Debating Love
by theplaywrite
Summary: Miss Wilder assigns Laura Ingalls and Willie Oleson to work on a school project together. Little do they know, a whole bunch of feelings will get stirred up and revealed, some nobody ever saw coming.
1. You Can Be Partners With

You Can Be Partners With

"Alright, class. Settle down."

As if on cue, every student in Miss Wilder's one-room schoolhouse took their seats and paused their conversations. Miss Wilder stood in front of the class with a stack of papers in her hand.

"Now. As I had promised at the beginning of the semester, we will not be having a final exam." Miss Wilder could not finish her statement, as a cheer of excitement from every student filled the schoolhouse. "Alright, now. Instead, I will be assigning you all a project. It will be worth a significant portion of your final grade and will take a decent amount of time to complete. But hopefully, it will not be too difficult and might even be fun to work on."

"Do we have to write another boring paper again?" Willie Oleson called out.

"No, Willie. I have come up with a project that you all will do in pairs."

Immediately, the students of this small school began shooting glances and sharing nods. All except for Laura Ingalls, who was too focused on what Miss Wilder was saying to look around. Laura had been trying for months to get her grades high enough so she could take the school certification exam again. She wanted to become a teacher and impress her long-time crush, Almanzo Wilder.

"Now, this project will be a form of debate. Each pair will be given a set opposing statements. Then, they will have to work together to develop arguments to back each of the opposing sides." Miss Wilder went on to explain. "You could use facts, historical examples or common situations to support each statement. Finally, you will present your arguments to the class."

"So, do we have to debate the other person?" Willie interrupted once again.

Miss Wilder, a bit more annoyed, tried to answer the boy's question. "Not exactly. You will come up with the arguments together and chose which one of you will present each argument."

A hum of conversations and the rustling of papers filled the room. It would seem that the students were more excited about the final project than Miss Wilder expected them to be.

"Alright, class. You may sit with your partner and I will hand out the topics randomly." Everyone started moving around the room as Miss Wilder began passing out the papers.

Laura turned to her adopted-brother, Albert. "This is going to make for an interesting assignment."

Albert turned his head away, then looked back at his sister. "Yea. Well...actually...I was going to work with Andy on this one."

"What?" Laura asked, becoming very confused as her and Albert always paired up to do their schoolwork.

"Well, we worked on the last big project together." The younger boy tried to explain, being careful not to hurt Laura's feelings. "Besides, girls have a terrible way of arguing." Albert jumped out of his seat next to his sister and went to meet up with Andy.

Laura started anxiously looking around for someone to be her partner. Unfortunately, everyone else seemed to have already found the person they were going to work with. The young girl bit her lip in distress.

"Laura, are you alright?" Miss Wilder asked, after walking by Laura and noticing the nervousness on her face.

"I don't have a partner." She stated directly.

The teacher looked around for a moment. "Here. You and Willie can be partners." Just then, Willie walked over, not knowing he had just been thrown into the conversation.

A look of disgust and disbelief fell over Laura's face. Partners with Willie Oleson? She could not think of anything worse. At least Nellie was smart. Willie was an annoying brat who never did any of his own work. She would never forgive Albert for leaving her to be partnered with Willie.

"Here are your topics." Miss Wilder handed Laura a sheet of paper and walked away.

Willie slid himself in the seat next to Laura, with a cocky half smile on his face. He knew that Laura would do everything in her power to get a good grade on this final project, which would make him look like an improved student. He would just have to let her do most of the work, throw an idea around here and there, and show up to class on the day of presentations.

"So, partner, what topic did we get?" Willie asked with a sly tone in his voice.

Laura sighed, finally excepting her fate. She turned over the paper and began reading aloud. "The first line says: A rich couple will have a better marriage. The second one says: A poor couple will have a better marriage."

"That's easy. I don't know why we would have to debate something as obvious as that?" Willie commented without hesitation.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Laura exclaimed.

"Class dismissed." Miss Wilder called from her desk.

Immediately, Willie jumped up and ran out of the schoolhouse, leaving Laura in the dust.

That night, all the Ingalls family were gathered around the dinning table, eating a wonderfully cooked meal. Laura, however, was quiet, not wanting to yell at her brother in front of her parents.

"So, Laura, Albert. I ran into Miss Wilder at the mercantile this afternoon and she told me about that big project you have to do." Caroline added to the conversation about schoolwork and grades.

"Oh, what kind of project is it?" Charles asked his kids, while slowly setting down his cup of coffee.

Albert swallowed his food to reply. "It's sort like a debate, in pairs."

"Well, what topic did you two get?" Pa asked, feeling some what interested.

"Actually, I'm working with Andy." The young boy explain, shoving another fork-full of food into his mouth.

Caroline looked over at her daughter. "So who are you working with, Laura?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes in her brother's direction. "Willie." Laura answered in a low tone.

Charles accidentally let out a small laugh. "How's that going to work out?"

"I don't know, Pa." Laura wondered herself. "And you'll never guess what topic Miss Wilder decided to give us."

"What?"

"Which is better: a rich marriage or a poor marriage?"


	2. Let's Get To Work

Let's Get To Work

The following day, after school had let out, Laura ran up to Willie, who was about to start up a game of baseball with the other boys.

"Willie, we have to start working on our project." Laura said to her fellow classmate. She knew that she would have to be the one on top of things in this partnership. Hopefully, she would not be left doing all of the work by herself.

Willie sighed. "Not right now, okay. We're about to start a game. Besides, we have like two weeks to finish it. What's the rush?"

Laura rolled her eyes at the younger boy. "It would make more sense to finish it now and get it out of the way."

Willie was not paying any attention to what Laura was trying to say to him. He started throwing the baseball around with the other boys and was about to run up the hill to get in a good catching spot, when he heard Laura yell something behind him.

"Fine then! I'll do all the work myself and tell Miss Wilder you didn't help at all. She'll fail you!"

Willie quickly turned back to her. He never imagined Laura doing something like that. Then again, this was Laura Ingalls he was partnered with. "You would do that?"

"Absolutely!"

Willie sighed again. "Alright. Alright. We can start working on the stupid project."

Laura smiled, feeling very confident with herself after she had won her first battle with Willie. The two left town together and headed for Ingalls place, where they would start the work on their project. The walk to the little house was quiet, until they actually got there.

"I don't want to work in some smelly barn!" Willie exclaimed, as he noticed Laura motioning towards her family's barn. "Do you always do your homework in there?"

"Well, Grace is sleeping in the house and we can't wake her up. If you don't want to work in the barn, we'll just stay outside." Laura told him. They had not even begun working on the project and Laura was already sick and tired of Wille's presence. Eventually, the two decided to sit by the creek.

Laura took out her pencil and pad of paper, ready to start writing. "Alright. Let's just make a short list of all the reasons why a poor marriage would be better and then why a rich marriage would be better."

"Well, when you're rich, you can buy lots of stuff." Willie smiled. He knew full well that this topic they were assigned might strike a few nerves with Laura, especially with him being one of the richer kids in school. The Ingalls family almost never had enough money to make ends meet. It was a war as old as the world, and would not be letting up anytime soon.

"But, in a poor marriage, you work hard to get the belongs you have and you have more of an appreciation for them." Laura added, to counter Willie's statement.

"If you're rich, you never have to worry. You will always have food on the table and a roof over your head." The young boy commented, cocking his head to the side.

"Well, when you are poor, you learn to be resourceful and make the most out of any situation." Laura was slowly raising her voice. This was going to be a long project.

"Hey guys." Just then, Albert walked up to see what Laura and Willie were going. "You're already working on the assignment? We have like two weeks to finish it, don't we?"

"Yes, we do." Willie answered. "Laura is just being overbearing and controlling."

That was it. "Because I don't want to be partnered with an annoying brat like you! I want to get this project done and over with, so I don't have to spend anymore time with you!" Laura throw her stuff on the ground and walked away from the two boys in a fit of rage.

After having a few seconds to cool down, Laura went back over to Willie. "Let's get to work. Albert, do you mind? We're trying to start a project here."

Albert then walked away in silence.

"Is that how everyone sees me?" Willie asked, with his eyes on the ground.

Laura looked over to him. "What do you mean?"

"An annoying brat. I bet my own parents think that way about me." The young boy said in a saddened tone.

"That's not true." Laura whispered.

Willie looked up at Laura. "Why do you care so much about this dumb project anyways?"

"It's not so much about the project." The older girl sat back down and started to explain. "I need to finish school, so I can become a teacher."

"Like your ma."

"Yeah. I want to be seen as a woman and not some helpless little girl anymore."

"For Almanzo."

That name always makes Laura's stomach jump. "How did you-?"

Willie chuckled a bit. "You know almost everyone knows about your huge crush on Almanzo Wilder."

Laura's eyes widened and her breath shortened. "They do?"

"Yup." Willie Olsen nodded. "Me, Albert and Andy sometimes make fun of you for it."

Her heart sank. She would expect Willie to do something like that, but Albert was her brother and Andy was once one of her closest friends. Maybe she was too in over her head after all? But then again, what did they know?

"You guys are just kids." Laura tired to reason with herself. "You would never understand."

Suddenly, out of no where, Willie stood up and moved closer towards Laura. Before she could figure out what he was doing, Willie leaned in and did the most unexpected thing. He kissed her. Willie Oleson kissed Laura Ingalls on the lips and seemed to be enjoying every second of it. Laura sat there, completely motionless.

When Willie finally broke their kiss apart, all Laura could do was stare dumbfounded at him. Willie quickly grabbed his things and sprinted away from Laura, leaving her in the dust. Whatever had just happened between them, would change everything from there on out.


	3. Explain Yourself

Explain Yourself

Laura sat by herself at lunch the following day. Everyone else was playing baseball and having a real fun time. Normally, the young girl would have joined in, but her mind was still racing after what Willie had done the other day by the creek. She had not told anyone about their kiss and never planned to.

"Hey, Laura. Do you wanna bat?" Albert called over to his sister.

"No thanks." She simply answered.

Maybe Willie kissed her just to mess with her? Maybe it was all some big joke or something Nellie had put him up to? Whatever the reason why Willie kissed her, she was now determined to find out.

"Lunch is over, everyone!" Miss Wilder called out to her students while coming outside. She began ringing the bell and every kid rushed to get back inside. Laura walked back inside with the rest of her classmates, almost tripping over her own feet, lost in thought.

Later that day, Miss Wilder decided to dismiss the class early, giving Laura more time to track down Willie and get the answers she wanted from him. After running out of the schoolhouse, Laura immediately spotted the young boy. "Willie!"

Willie turned around after hearing Laura's call and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not wasting my whole afternoon working on that dumb project again." Willie stated clearly.

"I just wanted to ask you why...why you did what you did yesterday." Laura lowered her voice, wanting to make sure no one passing by could listen in on their conversation.

"What?" Willie asked, for a moment forgetting the last time he was alone with Laura.

"You know what I'm talking about, Willie Oleson. Did Nellie put you up to it or was it some sort of stupid prank?" Laura was filled with angry all of a sudden. How dare he forget.

Then, it hit him. Willie bit his lip, realizing what Laura was referring to. "Oh. I'll tell you later." Then, Willie sprinted away from Laura, leaving her in the dust.

"Willie, wait!" She yelled to him. But it was no use, Willie had concealed himself inside the mercantile. Laura would have to wait to get the answers she so desperately wanted.

The young girl walked home by herself. There was no one she could talk to about the strange kiss. Everyone would make fun of her or think differently of her, even her own ma and pa. However, the more Laura thought about it, she realized that kiss the previous day, was not the first her and Willie shared.

Years earlier, Laura had Willie help her make another boy jealous. Come to think of it, she did not even remember that boy's name anymore. Nor, if when she kissed Willie, if it was on the cheek or lips. Laura walked into her house, trying to think back to her childhood days.

"Hello, Laura. How was school today?" Caroline asked her daughter while preparing dinner.

Laura looked up, finally getting back to reality. "It was alright. Miss Wilder let us out a few minutes early."

"Speaking of, could you run over to the Wilder house for me and drop off this letter? Mrs. Foster mixed it up with our mail." Caroline asked her daughter.

"Sure, ma." Laura answered. She took the letter from her mother and set out for the Wilder house. Maybe seeing Almanzo would get Laura's mind off Willie.

Laura made her way over the final hill and saw the Wilder's house right away. Suddenly, she saw Almanzo walking between the barn and the main house. "Hi, Manly." She called to him, trying to sound enthusiastic about seeing him.

The older man looked up. "Oh hi, Beth. What brings you by?"

"We accidentally got one of your letters in the mail. I just came over to return it to you." Laura explained, staring deeply into Almanzo's eyes, trying to see if they looked at her in a certain way.

"Well, thank you, Beth." Almanzo shoved the letter into his pocket. "Say, I was just going to head into town. If you want, I could drop you off at your home so you don't have to walk all the way back."

Laura started smiling. She would do anything to get an extra time with Almanzo. "I'd like that. Thank you."

It took Almanzo only a few minutes to saddle up his team. Once him and Laura were safely in the buckboard, they started making their way back to the Ingalls' home. While riding, Laura listened to Almanzo talk about his work at the Feed & Seed. She did not take her eyes of the handsome older man, until she saw a scrawny younger boy walking to the river with his fishing pole.

"Manly, stop!" Laura yelled, jolting Almanzo up in his seat.

"What is it?" He asked in confusion.

"Nothing. I just realized I have to go somewhere else." Laura climbed off the buckboard and started in the same direction she saw him walking. "Thanks for the ride." She remembered to say to Almanzo, but not looking back at him.

Laura ran, almost sprinted, to the creek, hoping to catch up with him. As she looked around, she saw just who she was looking for. "Willie Oleson!" Willie looked up from his fishing pole and saw Laura making her way towards him.

"Explain yourself! Why did you kissed me?" Laura yelled. She was not going to let Willie leave this time until she got the answers she wanted from him.

The young boy sighed, realizing he was going to have to tell Laura the truth and that he picked a bad day to go fishing. "Alright. Alright. I'll tell you." There was a brief pause between the two.

"I had a crush on you once. It was stupid. Nellie made fun of me for it."

Laura had to take a step back. She could not believe it. After all the teasing, pranks and name-calling, how could Willie Oleson ever have had a crush on her? It did not make any sense.

"Really?" Laura asked.

Willie shock his head. "Yea. It was a long time ago and didn't even last very long. I just always wondered..." He trailed off in embarrassment.

"Wonder what?"

"Wondered what it would be like to kiss you. That's why I did what I did yesterday." Willie looked straight at Laura. "Don't worry, I don't like you like that anymore. You have gotten kind of annoying lately."

Laura shook her head at him. "Gee, thanks."

"Can we still be friends?" Willie was quick to ask.

It took Laura a moment to think about it. She guessed, in its own special way, her and Willie were and will always be friends. "Of course."

The two old friends both smiled. It was only a dumb kiss after all. Nothing more.

"Wait." Laura stopped, once she thought of something. "Did you tell anyone? You better not have told anyone, Willie."

Willie started laughing. "Why would I tell anyone I kissed you? Do you know how much fun I would get made of if people knew. My lips are sealed."

Laura nodded her head. "Alright. I'm going to trust you on this one. Now, since we're both here, let's get started on that project."

"No!"


End file.
